20 living bass greats

1 Dave Holland

Fifty-one years since being discovered by Miles Davis, Holland’s global influence cutting across a swathe of post-bop styles remains immense. The beating heart of In a Silent Way. Pick out his work with Kenny Wheeler for later thrills. Still a force to be reckoned with especially on 2018’s UnchartedTerritories and the brand new Good Hope with Zakir Hussain and Chris Potter.

2 Esperanza Spalding Breakthrough bassist/vocalist Spalding has rewritten the rulebook in terms of what a 21st century bassist can do.

3 Marcus MillerFusing jazz, soul, and African music Miller’s sound whether heard as far back as Tutu with Miles Davis, Luther Vandross, or more recently on Laid Black is instantly recognisable.

4 John Patitucci With a solo reputation for leading his own bands and making his own records nonetheless it’s for his role in the Wayne Shorter quartet that has defined the technically accomplished US bassist’s career over many years now.

5 Reid AndersonAs a member of one of the leading small groups in contemporary jazz in The Bad Plus bassist Anderson has an eclectic approach influenced by jazz, rock and classical approaches that appeals to a new generation exploring jazz often for the first time.

6 Larry Grenadier Best known for his work with Brad Mehldau and the Fly trio Grenadier thrives on a riff, his impossibly woody sound cornering tricksy rhythms with consummate ease.

7 Arild AndersenPlaying Cork this autumn. Was part of the history making Triptykon.

8 Ron Carter Elegant and refined, the heir in some ways to Ray Brown, Carter was the bassist in the Miles Davis “second great quintet” fact enough to be included in this list. He is still leading bands to this day, and is a regular visitor to Ronnie Scott’s.

9 Stanley ClarkeHugely influential from Return to Forever and George Duke days and in demand as a movie composer.

10 Cecil McBee The Forest Flower bassist. Need I go on? OK, yep McBee is on the title track of Journey in Satchidananda too.

11 Richard Bona The Cameroonian with the jaw-dropping bass guitar technique and unique vocal style, jazz, African music and a sense of improvisational adventure all roll into one.

12 Reuben Rogers The Charles Lloyd and Joshua Redman bassist has some of the best chops in jazz as at ease with free-jazz as straightahead.

13 Gary PeacockAvant gardist by reputation and also the ultimate standards bassist for many years with Keith Jarrett.

14 Linda May Han OhAdventurous chamber-jazz stylist globally known through touring with Pat Metheny, already with a formidable track record of achievement on her own genre-busting records.

15 Dan BerglundHe reached a huge global fanbase with EST and now leads his own group Tonbruket. Look out for Rymden.

16 Thomas MorganBig toned US bassist known for his work with Tomasz Stańko, he’s a revelation with Jakob Bro.

17 Richard Davis As well known as an educator as for his appearance on some classic records Richard Davis’ big sound has decorated albums as influential in very different ways as Astral Weeks and Out to Lunch.

20 Henry GrimesAvant god. Ayler, Cecil Taylor, another time, another place. Lost now found.

Bob Hurst, Branford, and Tain enter the Palindrome

Robert Hurst Bob: a PalindromeBebob Records NEW SEASON HIGHLIGHT ****It’s not quite the heavy metal umlaut, more an upside down version of one as you can see on the sleeve above, but Bob: a Palindrome, is Robert Hurst’s latest on his own Bebob records, a stellar septet befitting the company the musician habitually keeps, as the bassist appeared just last year on Macca’s Grammy winning Kisses on the Bottom.

Branford Marsalis, who Hurst made his name with in the Columbia years, is also on this new septet album, the centrepiece of which is a ‘Middle Passage Suite’ the title referring to the Atlantic slave trade, with individual pieces reflecting survival, death, and the continuum. Robert Glasper plays piano and Rhodes, and it’s interesting to hear Glasper on someone else’s records as well as his own, especially following the success of Black Radio. In some way his playing here recalls the style of one of his earlier records, Canvas. Bennie Maupin, a fellow Detroiter of Hurst’s, makes his presence felt quite early on flute, and another Detroit jazz legend, trumpeter Marcus Belgrave, who taught Kenny Garrett among others, melds more than well with Marsalis, and Glasper knits in beautifully behind the front line playing Rhodes on ‘Picked From Nick’.

It’s good to hear Tain Watts playing again with Branford (the Marsalis quartet hasn’t been the same without Tain), and the great drummer also has a significant musical rapport with percussionist Adam Rudolph who chops up the rhythms just right.

Highlights? Well the opening of ‘Big Queen’ has a sinuous momentum that recalls the Messengers with that slightly ominous atmosphere that Watts and Rudolph do much to build and push along; and Branford burns on the third part of the ‘Middle Passage’ suite.

The suite, in keeping with the rest of the album composed and arranged by Hurst, is the most important part of the record, the 21 minutes of music containing a unifying chamber music dimension as well as a jazz one; and Rudolph and Watts in Part II unite the separate ‘sections’ of the septet and ably direct the converging musics. UK group Zed-U were one of the first to highlight the Middle Passage as a subject for jazz composition in recent years and Neil Charles’ work on that record stands up well to Hurst’s superlative work here.

Later in Bob: a Palindrome ‘Indiscreet in da Street’ has formidable energy, and that’s a hallmark of this excellent album available for now as an import only.

Finally, with or without the upside down umlaut, this record might win an award for the most number of ‘thank you’ acknowledgements. More than 100 individual entries are printed so Hurst is clearly a grateful person! But we as listeners should be even more thankful for this quite superb album that achieves so much and shows such indomitable spirit throughout. MB